Does Whatever A Spider Can…

Marvel’s Spider-man

bySalehuddin Husin (GameAxis)

This is the greatest Spider-man game yet.

That’s a bold statement to start the review on but there’s no other webslinger game that comes even close to this.

It’s not an origin story (thank god), and stars a pretty veteran Spider-man. Most of his rogues have been established and Marvel’s Spider-man By Salehuddin Husin (GameAxis) Does whatever a spider can… imprisoned in The Raft and Peter Parker now works as a research assistant.

We see the webslinger in fine form as he initially takes on the Kingpin (who looks uncannily like a fat Live Schreiber), though it’s the parts playing as regular Peter Parker that sticks in your mind. There has not been any Spider-man game that gives Parker’s personal life as much weight as this one.

Like a good rollercoaster, Spider-man’s plot starts off slow, and builds up to a climatic second act where all hell breaks loose. Luckily, Spidey is a kickass fighter.

Combat falls into a rhythm of dodging and attacking, but with tons of acrobatic moves thrown in. The camera does a great job in keeping up with it all. You’ll rarely lose track of where Spidey is, which allows you to keep on fighting enemies instead of camera angles.

There’s an incredible kinetic charm to the combat, and best of all, it looks damn impressive. Fighting fills up a Focus meter, which allows you to execute finisher moves and also serves as an emergency healing mechanic to heal Spidey in the middle of a fight.

Photo Mode captures the essence of today’s social media world, with tons of filters, effects, stickers.

Switching gadgets is a hassle though as you have to press L1 (which pauses the game), select the gadget to use and then release the button. It breaks the fluidity of combat; a shame since ALL of the gadgets are useful, but I ended up ignoring them in most fights.

Stealth is also often overlooked as the game forces you into combat most times. When the game does allow you to, being stealthy is awesome. You can pounce on enemies or web them up to surfaces, with some incredibly cool animations.

Of course, fighting and sneaking won’t be the only things you’ll be doing.

Web swinging is marvelously fun. Chaining together swings, doing tricks, wall-running and launching off objects makes you feel like you’re really Spider-man. There’s a huge version of Manhattan that you’re able to explore, but there’s also a fast travel option to get around quick where you’ll get some rather funny loading screens of Spidey riding the subway.

Fast travel too much though and you might miss out on one of my favourite parts of the game; J. Jonah Jameson’s ‘Just the Facts’ radio show. He rants and raves about the wallcrawler and it’s hilarious how he blames everything on Spidey, even when callers try to set him straight. The show adapts to what you’ve done in the story, so you’ll keep getting new episodes as you play.

There are a ton of side missions to do from stopping crime to special challenges. Completing these optional events nets you medals, which you can use to upgrade equipment and unlock new suits.

You gain a new suit every 2 or 3 levels and there are a ton of superb suits taken from Spider-man’s history, though some iconic suits are missing from the game. For example, the Ben Reilly Spider-man (though the Scarlet Spider suit is is), Future Foundation and Superior Spider-man suits to name a few.

Once you unlock a suit, you can swap out its ability with any other unlocked ability, so you’re not forced to wear a certain suit just because it has an ability you like.

Unlock and collect different iconic Spidey costumes as you play.

On top of that, there are mods you can attach to your suit, which gives you even more customization. As you level, you’ll gain skill points which can be assigned to three different skill trees. No worries though, you’ll be able to unlock every skill from every tree at max level.

The visuals for the game are spectacular. Buildings have interiors you can peer into, squirrels dart from tree to tree; you can even take selfies or high-five civilians walking around! The best part is that the cutscenes are all rendered in real time, reflecting your current Spidey suit.

Even the voice acting reflects the quality of the game. Nearly every voice actor delivers a capable performance, but Yuri Lowenthal’s performance as Peter takes the cake. All these elements come together to do great justice to Spider-man.